Dr. Rosa Krajmalnik-BrownAssociate ProfessorSchool of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment

The Krajmalnik-Brown Laboratory uses strong microbiological skills, genomic techniques, and environmental engineering to carry out research in biodegradation of water contaminants, such as nitrate, perchlorate and chlorinated organics, biotechnology for renewable bioenergy production and microbial ecology in the human gut and its relationship with human diseases. In particular, we apply powerful new genomic tools which allow us to uncover the role of microorganisms in all of these settings and help understand and manage important microbial interactions that lead to successful processes. A common trend in our research is the need to understand and manage syntrophies by exploiting the beneficial metabolic capabilities of hydrogen-consuming microorganisms. Because of this, the Krajmalnik-Brown Laboratory has a strong focus on anaerobic environments; however, we have also expanded the application of these powerful tools to other environments, such as photobioreactors.